illypads showcases and inspires illustrators

For some time Logopond has provided identity designers - from students to seasoned professionals - a venue to display logo design work, have images critiqued by site members and find inspiration in the work of others. Literally thousands of logos are archived on the site.

The same folks have now launched illypads, offering opportunities for illustrators to showcase their efforts, comment on posted illustrations and be inspired by the work of their peers. The gallery site - a great self-promotion tool for any illustrator - may be in its infancy, but some incredible work is already on display. Check it out.

© 2008 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives.

Still time to enter Holli Conger's First Annual Pumpkin Junkin' Contest

Holli Conger has been one of my favorite illustrators for quite a few years now. I always enjoy getting her emails, as I never know what they may bring. Today I got a reminder message from her about the First Annual Pumpkin Junkin' Exhibit & Contest. The deadline of October 31st is fast approaching. Artists around the world are encouraged to use and abuse a pumpkin with found objects, creating a masterpiece to share in the 2007 Pumpkin Junkin' Gallery. All the rules are on the official site.

Worldwide exposure of your pumpkin creation is not the only benefit of participation. There's a grand prize of one of Holli's great original Junk A Doodles illustration pieces. She's even lined up illustrators Paige Pooler, Robyn Fabsits and Andi Butler as judges.

By the way, be sure to check out Holli's fun illustration work.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

HOW Forum HOWies create HOWie wowie poster

The HOW Design Forum is one of my favorite online communities. I've been a participant for several incarnations of the cyber forum to date. Those who participate in the daily design networking activities are commonly known as "HOWies." If the name conjurs up a sense of some off-the-wall cult members, it's not far from the truth - the forum is kind of a design cult that sucks you in and will not let you be free to take care of your necessary daily work tasks.

Over the years the online community activity has occasionally strayed into the "real" world. HOWies have congregated at the annual HOW Design Conference (with special custom HOWie attendee I.D. badges), and in more casual gatherings around the country, to form real friendships. In a step beyond the normal forum avatar identitifications, The HOW Forum Member Picture Show A-Rama gave real faces to many of the regular visitors. There's even a HOWie group on Facebook, and a gaggle of HOWies can be found of Flickr and elsewhere on Internet social networking and design-related sites.

The forum participants have also moved beyond socializing to collaborating on design projects. In recent years there have been a series of HOWiezine projects, each with a different theme. Participants are responsible for designing, producing and submitting their zine pages, which are then compiled and distributed in complete magazine form by hard-working little HOWie elves. I'm usually too involved in writing or design projects to play with the other kids. However, I did participate in a HOWie cookbook project a couple years ago.

Late last year the HOWie poster project idea hit the pages of the forum. Through months of forum posts a theme was selected, forum visitors were able to sign up to participate, rough concepts were presented and all aspects of the project could be followed by all participants. HOWie poster diva (and that is meant in the best possible context) Jas Wabbington (Screen name: WabbingtonDesign) led the troops through the process and deserves a huge "thank you" for her efforts in herding 37 designers on one project. She also art directed and illustrated the poster in which HOWie participants show "Our True Colors" as color chips growing on a beautiful tree. HOWie poster project manager "jroz" deserves a tip of the HOWie hat, too. As does HOWie "mathias' for coming up with the initial concept. Ryan at Direct Edge Media deserves a "toot!" for the great printing job.

My HOWie poster arrived in the mail yesterday. The end result of the fun collaborative effort will find a special place on my studio wall - when the organizing of 30 years of design files/books is completed and I can actually find a wall.

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Stone Soup: Exhibit draws on personal experience

The other day I got an announcement from Jan Eliot by way of our mutual friend Mary Simon. The talented cartoonist behind the successful comic Stone Soup sent out the email to make others aware that an exhibit of her original cell drawings will be on display March 30-April 29, 2007 at the Opus6ix gallery at 22 West 7th Ave. in Eugene, OR. There will be a gallery reception for the artist at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 6. An additional opportunity to meet Eliot, and get copies of her books signed, will be on April 28.

I can't even remember how many years ago I was introduced to the cartoonist by Mary, but it was back in the days of her original strip Patience and Sarah. I've been a fan of Eliot and her work ever since.

These days, with the popularity of Stone Soup, she has lots of fans. Stone Soup is now a syndicated cartoon strip that's distributed internationally by Universal Press Syndicate to over 140 newspapers in 6 countries, and read by over 8 million readers every day. The distributor's web site offers this history of the journey to cartoon success:

Jan Eliot began cartooning as a form of self-defense when she was a single mom trying to raise two daughters, stay fully employed, pay the bills and still have a little fun once in a while. She discovered that cartooning gave her the opportunity to laugh at adversity, vent her frustrations and find humor in being short of money, short of time and short of patience. Not coincidentally, her original comic strip was called 'Patience and Sarah' and featured a single mom (Patience) and her daughter. It ran for five years in 10 weekly and monthly papers.

While working as a copywriter and graphic designer, Jan continued cartooning and developed a second strip called 'Sister City,' which ran weekly in the Eugene Register-Guard for five years. Her cartoons have been reprinted in many humor collections, magazines, computer manuals and parenting books. Jan has also published greeting cards with Maineline Press, Umbrella Press and Marcel Schurman.

In 1995, under the new name of 'Stone Soup,' Jan's comic strip was nationally syndicated. Jan promptly quit her job to become a full-time cartoonist and with the quick success of 'Stone Soup,' she has had no regrets. Closely based on her own life and the lives of her unsuspecting friends, 'Stone Soup' focuses on human relationships and the modern family. As one newspaper described it, the strip 'pursues the humor in life, parenting and even the friends we can't choose - relatives.'"

Stone Soup has become an industry. A new book, Desperate Households, will be released in the near future. Five other book collections are available: Stone Soup, You Can't Say Boobs On Sunday, Stone Soup the Comic Strip, Road Kill In The Closet, and Not So Picture Perfect. Readers can get their daily fix of the strip - and order prints - online. There's even a Cafe Press site of products.

With all the success of Stone Soup over the years, one thing has remained constant - Jan Eliot is still one of the nicest people I've ever met.

Photo: Sol Neelman

© 2007 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Hot art and design in a book about cool jazz

I'm fascinated by great children's books - especially children's books that are for kids of all ages. Books that are well designed or incredibly illustrated always catch my eye. I recently came across the beautifully designed and illustrated book Jazz ABZ: An A to Z Collection of Jazz Portraits, a collaboration of jazz great Wynton Marsalis, illustrator Paul Rogers and graphic designer Jill von Hartman. The book, published by Candlewick Press, includes text and graphic tributes to Louis Armstrong, Sonny Rollins, Count Basie, Charlie Parker, Sarah Vaughan, Art Blake and many others. It's a wonderful treat for any jazz enthusiast, a fan of the stylized illustration of first half of the last century, or a kid being introduced to jazz and design.

© 2006 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives

Wine, books, beer - and a dash of "gonzo" for good measure

I've always been a fan of the work of artist, illustrator and writer Ralph Steadman. Ever since first seeing his "gonzo" art pieces years ago (related to the "fear and loathing" days of association with Hunter S. Thompson) I have been fascinated with his frenetic, statement-filled work. In part, I think I've appreciated the free-from nature of what comes from his pen due to the fact my own work is made up of rather anal-retentive, hard-lined, structured efforts.

A respected oenophile, Steadman recently announced the release of his new book Untrodden Grapes, the follow-up to his previous volume on the world of wine, The Grapes of Ralph: Wine According to Ralph Steadman. Through his travels to notable vineyards in California, Chile, Spain, France, Italy and South Africa, his unique and vibrant illustrations, and the prose of a curmudgeon, Steadman presents the reader an off-beat look at wine-making and some great wines. The mixture of incredible art, entertaining writing, and travel tales got me hooked. I now need to check out some of the other books he has created.

In addition to his books, illustrating the writing of others (such as a new edition of Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451), T-shirts, limited edition prints, posters and other items, Steadman brought his work to the masses as the packaging illustrations for Flying Dog Ales. Be sure to check out their site - especially the page about the "gonzo" connection. I really enjoy going into a grocery store and seeing Steadman's offbeat labels among all the stuffy designs in the beer cooler.

Learn more about Steadman, and see additional examples of his work, at the Creative Refuge site, where you will find Mike Buchheit's interview The Pen is Mightier as a Sword: Talking with Ralph Steadman. At the Creative Refuge site you can also download the Steadman-inspired font "Collateral Damage" by Chris Hunt, courtesy of Chank.com. A visit to poke around Steadman's own site is also worth the cyber adventure.

© 2005 Jeff Fisher LogoMotives